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If you receive junk email from people you don't even know, you're not alone.
As more people use email, marketers are increasingly using email messages to pitch their products and services.
Unsolicited commercial email is known as SPAM. Most people find SPAM annoying
and time consuming, and some people have even lost money to bogus offers that arrive in their email.
Typically, a spammer buys a list of email addresses from a list broker, who
compiles it by "harvesting" addresses from the Internet.
Marketers use special software that can send hundreds of thousands or even millions
of email messages at the click of a mouse.
According to research by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), spammers use computer
programs that search public areas on the Internet to harvest lists of email addresses from web pages, newsgroups, chat rooms,
and other online destinations.
To find out which fields spammers consider most fertile for harvesting, investigators
"seeded" 175 different locations on the Internet with 250 new, undercover email addresses.
The locations included web pages, newsgroups, chat rooms, message boards, online
directories for web pages, instant message users, domain names, resumes and dating services. During the six weeks after the
postings, the accounts received 3,349 SPAM emails.
The investigators found:
• 86 percent of the addresses posted to web pages received SPAM. It didn't
matter where the addresses were posted on the page: if the address had the "@" sign in it, it drew SPAM.
• 86 percent of the addresses posted to newsgroups received SPAM.
• Chat rooms are virtual magnets for harvesting software. One address
posted in a chat room received SPAM nine minutes after it first was used.
Addresses posted in other areas on the Internet received less SPAM. Half the
addresses posted on free personal web page services received SPAM, as did 27 percent of addresses posted to message boards
and nine percent of addresses listed in email service directories.
Addresses posted in instant message service user profiles, "Whois" domain name
registries, online resume services, and online dating services did not receive any SPAM during the six weeks of the investigation.
In almost all instances, the investigators found, the SPAM received was not
related to the address used. As a result, consumers who use email are exposed to a variety of SPAM - including objectionable
messages - no matter the source of the address.
Some email addresses posted to children's newsgroups received a large amount
of SPAM promoting adult web sites, pitching work-at-home schemes and even advertising hallucinogenic drugs.
The investigators indicate that email address harvesting usually is automated,
because SPAM can hit the addresses soon after they are used publicly the first time; the SPAM was not targeted; and some addresses
were picked up off web pages even when they weren't visible to the eye.
Still, the good news for computer users is that they can minimise the amount
of SPAM they receive. Consumers can protect their email addresses from harvesting programs.
Here are some tips that may help you reduce the amount of SPAM you receive:
Try not to display your email address in public. That includes newsgroup postings,
chat rooms, websites or in an online service's membership directory. You may want to opt out of member directories for your
online services; spammers may use them to harvest addresses.
Check the privacy policy when you submit your address to a website. See if it
allows the company to sell your address. You may want to opt out of this provision, if possible, or not submit your address
at all to websites that won't protect it.
Read and understand the entire form before you transmit personal information
through a website. Some websites allow you to opt out of receiving email from their "partners" - but you may have to uncheck
a pre-selected box if you want to opt out.
Decide if you want to use two email addresses - one for personal messages and
one for newsgroups and chat rooms. You also might consider using a disposable email address service that creates a separate
email address that forwards to your permanent account. If one of the disposable addresses begins to receive SPAM, you can
shut it off without affecting your permanent address.
Use a unique email address. Your choice of email addresses may affect the amount
of SPAM you receive. Spammers use "dictionary attacks" to sort through possible name combinations at large Internet Service
Providers or email services, hoping to find a valid address. Thus, a common name such as jdoe may get more SPAM than a more
unique name like jd51x02oe. Of course, there is a downside - it's harder to remember an unusual email address.
Use an email filter. Check your email account to see if it provides a tool to
filter out potential SPAM or a way to channel SPAM into a bulk email folder. You might want to consider these options when
you're choosing which Internet Service Provider (ISP) to use.
Often by clicking on unsubscribe buttons in unsolicited emails you only verify
your email address to Spammers and thus receive even more SPAM. However, according to the law email marketers must honour
"Unsubscribe" requests.
Some marketers send email as a quick and cheap way to promote their goods and
services. The claims made in any advertisement for products or services, including those sent by email, must be truthful.
This means that any promises to remove consumers from email mailing lists must be honoured.
If the email solicitations claim that consumers can opt-out of receiving future
messages by following removal instructions, such as "click here to unsubscribe" or "reply for removal," then the removal options
must function as claimed. That means any hyperlinks in the email message must be active and the unsubscribe process must work.
If you unsubscribe and the process fails, report the offender.
There are some things you can do with the SPAM in your inbox.
Report it to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Send a copy of unwanted or
deceptive messages to uce@ftc.gov. The FTC uses the unsolicited emails stored in this database to pursue law enforcement actions against people who send deceptive
SPAM email.
Let the FTC know if a "remove me" request isn't honoured. If you want to complain
about a removal link that doesn't work or not being able to unsubscribe from a list, you can fill out the FTC's online complaint
form at www.ftc.gov. Your complaint will be added to the FTC's Consumer Sentinel database and made available to hundreds of law enforcement and
consumer protection agencies.
Send a copy of the SPAM to your Internet Service Provider's (ISP) abuse desk.
Often the email address is abuse@yourispname.com or postmaster@yourispname.com. By doing this, you can let the ISP know about
the SPAM problem on their system and help them to stop it in the future. Make sure to include a copy of the SPAM, along with
the full email header. At the top of the message, state that you're complaining about being spammed.
Complain to the sender's ISP. Most ISPs want to cut off spammers who abuse their
system. Again, make sure to include a copy of the message and header information and state that you're complaining about SPAM.
Protect yourself from SPAM scams. The FTC suggests that you treat commercial
email solicitations the same way you would treat an unsolicited telemarketing sales call. Don't believe promises from strangers.
Greet money-making opportunities that arrive in your inbox with scepticism. Most of the time, these are old-fashioned scams
delivered via the newest technology.
Here are some of the most common scam offers likely to arrive by email:
• Chain letters. Chain letters that involve money or valuable items and
promise big returns are illegal. If you start one or send one on, you are breaking the law. Chances are you will receive little
or no money back on your "investment." Despite the claims, a chain letter will never make you rich. For more information on
chain emails, check out www.ftc.gov/chainmail.
• Work-At-Home Schemes. Not all work-at-home opportunities deliver on
their promises. Many ads omit the fact that you may have to work many hours without pay. Or they don't disclose all the costs
you will have to pay. Countless work-at-home schemes require you to spend your own money to place newspaper ads; make photocopies;
or buy the envelopes, paper, stamps, and other supplies or equipment you need to do the job. The companies sponsoring the
ads also may demand that you pay for instructions or "tutorial" software. Consumers deceived by these ads have lost thousands
of dollars, in addition to their time and energy.
• Weight Loss Claims. Programs or products that promote easy or effortless
long-term weight loss don't work. Taking off weight, and keeping it off, requires exercise and permanent changes in your diet.
All the testimonials and guarantees in your email are not worth the space they take up on your hard drive.
• Credit Repair Offers. Ignore offers to erase accurate negative information
from your credit record. There's no legal way to do that.
• Advance Fee Loan Scams. Be wary of promises to provide a loan for a
fee, regardless of your past credit history. Remember, legitimate banks don't issue credit cards without first checking your
credit.
• Adult Entertainment. You may get an email from an adult entertainment
site that claims to offer content for "free" and doesn't require a credit card number for access. All you have to do is download
a "viewer" or "dialler" program. However, once the program is downloaded onto your computer, it may disconnect your Internet
connection and reconnect to an international long distance phone number, at rates between $2 and $7 a minute. Be sceptical
when you see opportunities to view "free" content on the web.
The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business
practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint or
to get free information on consumer issues, visit www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261.
The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft and other fraud-related
complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. | 
